The naval Battle of Drepana took place in 249 BC during the First Punic War near the city of Drepana (modern Trapani) in western Sicily, between a Carthaginian fleet under Adherbal and a Roman fleet commanded by Publius Claudius Pulcher. Pulcher was blockading the Carthaginian stronghold of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala) when he decided to attack their fleet, which was nearby in the harbour of Drepana. The Roman fleet sailed by night to carry out a surprise attack but became scattered in the dark. Adherbal was able to lead his fleet out to sea before it could be trapped in harbour; having gained sea room in which to manoeuvre he then counter-attacked. The Romans were pinned against the shore, and after a day of fighting were heavily defeated by the more manoeuvrable Carthaginian ships with their better-trained crews. After this, Carthage's greatest naval victory of the war, they took the offensive and all but swept the Romans from the sea. (Full article...).
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Drepana
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
Napoleon escaped from the Italian island of Elba (depicted), to which he had been exiled after the signing of the Treaty of Fontainebleau. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon
1917:
The Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded "Livery Stable Blues", the first jazz single ever released. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery_Stable_Blues
1935:
With the aid of a radio station in Daventry, England, and two receiving antennae, Scottish engineer and inventor Robert Watson-Watt first demonstrated the use of radar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Watson-Watt
2012:
African-American teenager Trayvon Martin was killed by neighborhood-watch coordinator George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, prompting a nationwide controversy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Trayvon_Martin
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
haul: 1. (transitive) To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle. 2. (transitive) To draw or pull something heavy. 3. (transitive) To carry or transport something, with a connotation that the item is heavy or otherwise difficult to move. 4. (transitive, figuratively) To drag, to pull, to tug. 5. (transitive, figuratively) Followed by up: to summon to be disciplined or held answerable for something. 6. (intransitive) To pull apart, as oxen sometimes do when yoked. 7. (transitive, intransitive, nautical) To steer (a vessel) closer to the wind. 8. (intransitive, nautical) Of the wind: to shift fore (more towards the bow). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haul
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are seeing Russian military operations inside the sovereign territory of Ukraine on a scale that Europe has not seen in decades. Day after day, I have been clear that such unilateral measures conflict directly with the United Nations Charter. … I repeat my appeal from last night to President Putin: Stop the military operation. Bring the troops back to Russia. We know the toll of war. With deaths rising, we are seeing images of fear, anguish and terror in every corner of Ukraine. People – everyday innocent people – always pay the highest price. --António Guterres https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_Guterres